Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join private-equity giant Warburg Pincus next year, ending a 25-year run of public service.

Geithner was named president of Warburg Pincus and will begin at the firm on March 1. From the post, he will help manage the firm, its investments and investor relations, New York-based Warburg Pincus said.

"As private-equity evolves and as our investing practices and funding models continue to develop, Tim's record of leadership through economic and market complexities will be of critical importance," co-CEO Joe Landy said.

Geithner's only private-sector experience to date has been a three-year stint at former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's consulting firm in the mid-1980s. He went on to work at the Treasury Department's international affairs division, moving on to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo before returning to the Treasury. During the George W. Bush Administration, he worked at the Council of Foreign Relations and was named president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he helped oversee the bank bailouts during the financial crisis, a role that would continue when he was named Treasury Secretary by President Barack Obama in 2009. He remained in that post until January.

Geithner reportedly spurned jobs at banks for fear that he would be accused of having conflicts of interest. And he's not always been a friend to the industry, pushing as Treasury secretary to close the so-called "carried-interest" loophole, which would have amounted to a big tax increase for hedge and private-equity fund managers. But he did push against tough new European hedge fund regulations during his term, and did not appear to ruffle too many alternative-investments feathers: In the wake of his mentor, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers' exit from the race to lead the Federal Reserve, many hedge fund managers said they'd like to see Geithner in the post.

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